Doug Ma, a pharmacist at Pure Integrative Pharmacy in downtown Vancouver, told CBC News that he’s never seen a flu season so busy.

“We ran out yesterday afternoon, which was a first time that’s ever happened in the last couple of years,” he said Saturday. “Even after that, we’ve been getting requests probably several times an hour, every hour.”

“People have been calling around to multiple pharmacies, unable to find any,” Ma said.

In B.C.’s eastern regions, pharmacists have reported that Albertans are crossing the border looking for the flu vaccine, after many pharmacies in Alberta ran out and after Alberta Health Services closed its vaccination clinics Friday.

More than 1 million people got the current flu shot for free in Alberta, where at least nine people have died of H1N1 flu this season.